Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Real world Ahead!

So,it is just another day in life.. I did my honest work, came back home at 6 and decided to watch a movie.. As always i did not know which movie shall i watch till i reached the theatre.. I watched Woody Allen movie, quite liked it..
The day is over.. Another day in life.. I dont know what is it that i like to do.. I have been associated with innovation, sales and i always like what i do, but then there i something missing.. I always feel ething around me is too systematic.. An MBA is basically hired to run large systems with almost known and predictable inefficency.. There are some lucky ones who have to face extra ordinary situations during their tenure, but then owning extra ordinary challenges for someone's else' business is not really "luck".. If i see around me, everyone is struck in same mess.. A consultant is making ppts, investment banker - excels, PE guy - evaluations, reseacher knows that his data indicates preditable, but he does it anyway.. Its all standard.. Initially everyone feels, whats the big deal.. i mean handling 100 people was always me, thts where my leadership was proven and b school gave me an admit, thinking big and passion was always me.. BUT, am i using it?? NO, not really.. Someone used all that once, when he started his busiess.. then he grew it, got bored and handed it over to MBAs to run the systems and make money by solving systemic inefficiencies.. It is easy, fair money.. but then what?? Money does pull you, but then to an extent.. After that, there has to be more.. Somethng which is created by yu, challnges that are yours.. I used to think, i will never pick up book again, i am done.. but now i like to grow, read more on different subjects, think beyond work, think of new ideas, learn frm all cultures.. Thats something unique about ISB, when you come out, you just want to thnk and do.. Sometimes i used to wonder, why so many people, why 20 hours schedule.. It makes you hungry, makes you learn from differences, teaches you passion when u spend endless nights on your ideas.. it takes away all inhibitions.. it says, you are human, you can do a lot, you have 24 hours in a day, you have millions of friends and if you have a case, money is never an issue..
I have nt done justice to my degree yet, i am a part of a large system, i am good at it.. but my school did not make me an MBA, it made me a thinker, doer, it told me in multiple ways, nations progress from ideas, not following.. Now that i think of the last words that ISB had displayed on its exit when i left in 2009 " REAL WORLD AHEAD", i smile at them.. really.. thats so true.. The real world needs both followers and leaders, either you give in or you find your way.. this is the ultimate choice you will make..

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Oxford, Stratford and Cotswolds

Last weekend it was about exploring the intelleigentisia of Uk.. The day started on a bad note.. i was late for my journey.. i ran for about 2 kilometers to catch my bus 15 minutes late and lets not even talk about the dirty looks people gave me, but i was too exhausted due to my long run to think of other thoughts..
My frend Sreya was with me, so the journey till Oxford was cool with lots to discuss about.. We landed in Chist church college of oxford.. Its a heritge building, the Harry Potter kind of structure.. well, the movie it seems had one of its famous dining hall scenes from this college.. The old walls, massive structures, long portraits of famous writers and for me being from India, i wondered Humanities is such a vast field and can it be really taught in class rooms.. The pace has a story of its own.. We moved on to see the library, the book store and finally to the high street.. it was time to feed us something, we landed in a mexican shop for a roll, which was yummy..
Our next stop was Catswolds.. the place is known for stone houses and roofs.. its a very small town with a unique feel.. We got down to see a church.. it has lots of graves around and a tall structure, though it wasn't magnificient, but it has smething interesting in its simplicity and size..
We crossed the town to find our way to the birth town of Shakespeare.. its called stratford upon Avon..Avon is a river which flows through this small town, hence the name.. there was a river side carnival going on with lots of traditional food stalls and icea reams.. we decidedto walk around and be a part of the same.. a short walk through the town is enough to realize the difference between the cosmopolitan and small town feel.. there was pizza being baked on stone, fuklava, different varieties of olives, ice creams and what not.. Slurrrpp.. food is best when eaten in carnival.. :)
With this our journey ended.. All in all a nice short trip.. I would not rate it very high on natural beauty, but its high on historical importance..

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Food and More of London

There is lesser happening on this front.. I saw the guard chaging ceremony in Buchingham palace.. too crowded, nothing exciting, but still if you are here, you better see it once.. how they do it everyday is also quite wierd, but then they do it..
I tried some good food places:
-- Chiquittos - This is a mexican joint, i visited the one around Leicester Square.. DO NOT MISS ON NACHOS.. Food here is worth it..
-- Thai Food - This was in Cardiff.. Thai curries are worth giving a go, i can eat it anytime..
-- The brunch at local brundswick center..
-- My very own Kathi Rolls -- Thats amazingly spicy and tangy
-- food at Southall - If you want the paranthas and chaat, please do travel for an hour, its worth it.. And yes, you can even opt for langar..
-- The Krispy Creme doughnuts - They are bestest doughnuts..
-- The Greek Food - Falafel and Hummus - For vegetarians its almost a saviour
-- Sushi - This is healthy, but is an acquired taste and needs to be eaten will all sauces
-- My favourite crunchy oats and yogurt-- This has been my bfast many a times..
-- The apple crumble pie-- this is someting i found so so, but poeple are simple crazy about it..
-- I have done the London walk, i dont like hype about the star bucks

And yes, i did finally visit the Cineworld and saw the premiere showcase of Twilight saga or something like tht.. :)

What i still need to do:
-- London Theatre
-- Japanese food
-- East Ham
-- Wimbledon
-- Lebanese food
-- start on continental europe
-- Ireland
-- more places around London
-- Umm may be punting
-- The cruise

Will do will do.. But the summers are about to go and i have long list to cover..

Chatsworth and Matlock Bath

This is one of cheap day trip on weekends.. A journey to Derbyshire.. This is a country side.. Chatsworth is the home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.. yes, the royalty estate open for vistors and trust me it is worth the show off.. The place has large farm lands, lavish gardens, 126 rooms and huge mansion to boast of.. You enter into acres of greery and then you see this tall waterfall ( supposed to be the tallest gravity driven waterfall in the world ) and a mansion behind it.. There are lake, ducks, maze gardens, cascade garden, green house,a small museum showcasing the royal life and lineage of the duke and duchess.. and AGAIN i will mention, Europeans know how to create tourism business.. The historical artifacts are collected, a story is laid around them and organized to take the visitor down the memory lane.. I was partcularly impressed the artistic collection and taste.. You can cover the house in 40 minutes and then move on to view the gardens.. these are acres of green grass, a maze, a small tunnel, a small section of rock garden, kitchen garden.. ok, talk about it and you have it.. :) You can buy back books, try some patersseries or just lie down in grass and watch the world go by.. Well, as per my tour guide, there is some connection of this place with the notorious novel "Lady Chatterley's Lover".. Chatsworth has been selected as the United Kingdom's favourite country house several times.. Of particular interest to me were the cieling painting and the library and lavish dinish hall, some of the ceiling paitings gave a 3 D effct and looked magnificient.. Yep, thats about the Cavendish family, and Henry Cavendish the great scientist belonged to this family.. This has some connection with LAdy Diana.. The property being large and lavish could not have been maintained without being opened for visitors.. The collection from visits go to Chatsworth trust which is used to maintain the vast expanses.. You can even stay overnight in this estate for a handsome charge..
My next move after his was Matlock Bath.. This is also situated in Derbyshire.. There is a small railway station in this city , which can get you here.. We went to heights of Abraham from this place..At almost a thousand feet the Heights is home to some of the most stunning views of the Derwent Valley and beyond to Matlock and the wider Peak District.. We took a cable car to the moutain top.. the way up the mounatin is cable car is lovely as you see green moutains all around, a small river flowing by and the top of hill has mutiple things to explore.. This place has organized cavern trips.. The mining in this area is supposed to have begun in Roman days.. The tours in natural caverns take you back to mining days.. They hav beautiful animated way of showing how mining happened happened i old times.. the dark stonny walls of caverns have a story of their own to tell..
The place has a fossil factory which sells mutiple stone varieties and once can be picked if you like it.. :)
Nice 2-3 hours stay and you sit back in cable car to head back to home.. The thing i missed is the bakewell's pudding.. :(, nope, i could not go there.. All in all a fairly good day and a visit to discover the Derbyshire..

The Wales

This was an interesting 3 day trip over long weekend, thanks to all the friends who planned it.. we guys started from London, took a bus to Cardiff..Cardiff is the capital of Wales, a nice and cozy medium sized city.. Ok, here i will mention the Thai dinner that we had and let me admit, the various Thai curries are just delicious and worth a go..
The night was spent at a frenz place, only to start next day on a car drive to larger part of wales.. Wales is beath takingly beautiful.. grass and greenery in acres and acres.. no much population and generally sweet pople.. The "welshness" is so evident in the air.. There are welsh horses, the sheep pens which just look lovely and give you a feel like white pearls have been sprinkled all over the green ground.. The sheeps are fat and healthy.. It is a farming nation, with happy people and prosperous and healthy life.. But you do feel its different from England..
The beauty about this country is, its not the destination that matters, its the journey, literally.. :) Our first stop was to Breacon Bacon National Park. Ok, there are no tigers and lions.. This is naural beauty, long lavish green grounds, lambs, some stylish small pubs and yes, we did trek to a waterfall.. I can compare it to som treks around Bangalore and Jim Corbett.. There are multiple walking trails in Wales and the idea of this place is to be on feet and cover these trails to discover the natural beauty of this place.. If you are not a nature lover, then you will this place a little dry.. The trail we took was waterfall country and it was lovely.. we did this walk on a rainy day..
We had a few hours spent on this and we started our drive to Snowdonia. This is in North Wales. And yes, we went for a trip to Snowdonia summit in a steam driven mountain railway.. the jorney up is beath taking, though you do envy the people trekking their way up, because they see all these well and experience better than the tain..This is the highest mountain peak in Wales at 3560 feet...The loveliest site are the small water bodies among green moutains.. it does look like this is how heaven should be.. Oh, did i talk about the English breakfast?? The roaster mushroom, tomatoes, marmalade, flavored yougurt and much more.. yu are done for the day if you had this and it is worth its size.. :) We tried mexican during lunch and yes do try the leak and potato soup.. Everything here is rich and fattening, the pure milk, cheese and even potato soup.. :) Its a country of mountains, animals, farmers, cold weather and lovely people, no calorie counts needed.. just trek!! :)
AND let me not miss this, every family seems to be having dog as a part of it.. there were big, small, lovely, dangerous ones all around with their families.. so, yes Dogs have a life here.. :)
We missed the castles around the place, while we drove to Pehrhyn, we were to late to enter and see the same..We managed to see the Dinorwig hydr power station and explored the largest man made tunnel.. It is a 1800 MW pumped storage hydroelectric scheme, near Dinorwig, Llanberis in Snowdonia national park in Gwynedd, north Wales. It comprises 16 km of tunnels, 1 million tons of concrete, 200,000 tons of cement and 4,500 tons of steel.. And not to mention the large motors and transformes driven by the pressure of water in reservoirs.. the tour is worth a go as this is another enginering marvel worth exploring.. You do feel bad about the destruction done to nature by Slate mining, but this is being restored now.. the whole hydro power station tour is explained by audio, and is very well structured to explain..

We stayed one night in this area, drove back to Cardiff.. The journey back was as beautuful as it culd get.. this area is worth picnicking, spedning some leasure time, you will see lots of caravans, lamb, some handsome horses, good food..

I should mention the way one of the pub was decorated around the waterfalls.. it had a huge collection of mugs collected form various places, hung o cielings, side of the walls and very tastefull done decor with a sewin machine occuoying the window seat.. :)

Thats Wales for you.. Coutry side, breath takingly beautiful, less populous, rich food, lambs, lots of moutains and yes, did i tell you?? From Snowdonia summit, you can see Wales, England and Ireland and the sea line.. It does look like heaven is here.. :)

The Sea towns - Brighton and Eastboune

A weekend off in a low cost trip down the sea side with a bus full of people.. :) Brighton and Eastbourne are sea side towns, have famous piers with lots of games, fish and chips, lovely beaches, the sea birds, rides and small gullies in town to discover.. perfect for summer travel around the sea..
Wait.. whats the difference that you will find between the two towns??
Brighton is young and new and Eastbourne sea side looks upscale and contemporay.. If you ask my view, i would say Eastbourne looked better to me..
Though i am a veggie, but i can tell that fish and chips were fresh and an attraction, so if you do eat non veg, do sit in open air Pier restaurant and give it a go.. Oops, there was something for me too, the clotted cream fudge.. Yum.. try this.. it is made of sea water, so the slightly salty taste is worth it and difficult to find elsewhere... Do refrain fro honey combs if you do not have extremely sweet tooth, but do try the vanilla cone with chocolate stick..
Eastbourne had chalky sea side structure, it is an awesome view from Pier and if you walk towards the struture, you might get lost in the beauty and elegance of the place..
All in all a nice day out along sea side..

The Canterbury Tales

Though i have been extremely lazy and late in updating my travels on blog, but better late than never..
So, my summers started with a drive to Canterbury with some friends.. after long and cold winters, the green and yellow fields of Europe are just mersmerising.. This city lies in South East england and a small drive from London.. The place is famous for its cathedral which houses many holy souls and boasts of magnificient architecture... We started early morning from London, had breakfast mid way and moved towards the city.. It shows signs of Roman inheritance all around.. the magnificient city wall, the ruins of a prison or the cathedral..
The city is close to sea, so you can check out the cathedral and drive towards the sea, mid way cath up wth the famous large wind mill and all the way in between see the country, fairy tale, small city life of Europe.. yes, it does look like a perfect dream..
An excerpt from wikipedia about this place abot what was its connetion with famous Canterbury tales-- "After the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket at the cathedral in 1170, Canterbury became one of the most notable towns in Europe, as pilgrims from all parts of Christendom came to visit his shrine. This pilgrimage provided the framework for Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th-century collection of stories, The Canterbury Tales."

Canterbury Cathedral is a world heritage site, it is being restored and saved. The tourism industry in UK is extremely well stuctured, organized and preserved.. The sructure adds value to the otherwise common tourism industry..

We then moved to sea side to enjoy the beach and spend some quality time watching surfers, and trying to see the horizons of sea.. :)

The day ended with the journey back to London and OH did i mention the tunnel contructed through Thames, which one has to cross while entering to London when you travel to or from Canterbury?? Engineering marvels are a common site here and does make you feel that civil engineering found its way here..